Foxtel and Network Ten co-commission Gogglebox for 2015

MEDIA RELEASE:THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014

Foxtel and Network Ten announced today they have jointly commissioned a new Australian production, Gogglebox – a show about people watching television.
To be screened on Foxtel’s The LifeStyle Channel and Network Ten in 2015, Gogglebox is the first jointly commissioned series between the two broadcasters and will be produced by Shine Australia.

Based on the U.K. smash hit, Gogglebox is a weekly observational series which captures the reactions of ordinary Australians as they watch the nightly news, argue over politics, cheer their favourite sporting teams and digest current affairs and documentaries. Twelve households will be chosen and then rigged with special, locked off cameras to capture every unpredictable moment.

Foxtel Executive Director of Television, Brian Walsh, said: “Gogglebox is a game changer for Australian television. It is one of the most unique and entertaining formats I have seen in many years. The show is bound to create some new favourite faces and I’m certain the 12 households will become popular in their own right as we get to know them better each week. There really is nothing else like it on television and we are delighted to partner with Network Ten for this terrific new addition to our lineup for 2015.”

Network Ten Chief Programming Officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: “We all watch television, we all love talking about television and this format allows us to be a fly on the wall in other people’s homes as they do just that.

“Gogglebox is original, authentic and, most of all, extremely entertaining. We are very pleased to be collaborating with Foxtel to bring this brilliant new show to Australia.”
Gogglebox, which launched on Channel 4 in the UK in March 2013, has recently entered its fourth season. It has become a social media sensation, in the process making accidental stars of the families featured. The average weekly audience in the UK is about 3 million viewers. This year it won the BAFTA for best reality constructed factual program, and was also nominated in the BAFTA Radio Times Audience Award Category.

The series will premiere in 2015 first on Foxtel’s The LifeStyle Channel, followed by broadcast on Network Ten the next night.